A couple stories from my many years at scout camp. Ok two years and both years i was sent home.

year 1, 14 years old it was about 2 am and I had to take the biggest crap. I go to the bathroom and there is no toilet paper, all the leaders are sleeping and at 14 pooping was still sort of embarrassing, right next to the bathroom was a tent of a kid I really didnt like, so I reach in his backpack while he is sleeping and pull out a t-shirt, I crap wipe, and put it back.

I guess I was to loud because someone saw me do it, I got ratted out and sent home.

year 2, I get a 2 hour lecture from the bishop before I am allowed to go. So the first night I go out for a little hike and find about a 30 foot dead pine tree, I drag it bag to camp with the help of a friend, we start a fairly big fire and throw the pine tree in there, It went up like you have never seen, it actually caused the forest service to come out because the the flames were 50 plus feet in the air. On top of that we took a pack of lighters and were throwing them in the fire and watching them pop. Shortly after I was sent home and never allowed back.

Those were still great times.

I guess I was in a weird ward by everyone else's standards because we went to scout camp, most of us, up until around 17. Small ward, small town, "simple folk," supportive parents and leaders that made it the fun thing to do. I had a blast getting to be one of the older kids there and picking on the little kids. CIrcle of life thing.

Holy cow, Junkie. You should be in the bad scout hall of fame.

I really don't have a lot of sympathy for those high-minded people who have excuses for not getting involved, or disparage good organizations for this reason or that.

"I abandoned my responsibility to help young men in the church grow and develop because of [insert bullshit reason here]."

"I loved scouts, but I find it so morally reprehensible that scouts don't [insert bullshit reason here] that I cannot be involved."

Fact is the church and scouts don't need dope-smoking riff-raff as leaders anyway.

So, I guess it is a WIN-WIN.

One of my friends, who is estranged from the church, whom I approached about being involved in my troop....I expected him to possibly say 'I don't agree with scouting policy on...therefore I cannot in good conscience..."

Nothing of the sort. Due to time/work he is not involved, but I hope to pull him in eventually.

btw, it is obvious that gays are in scouts. It's just like the military, "don't ask don't tell."

I guess this would lead to some not being able to support the efforts of the military, and not believing that the military does worthy work.

I always wonder when these sort of things stop being a sincere prayer / talk and turn into an ego trip. There are very few people I'm interested in listening to for more than five minutes. You can be sincere in 30 seconds. With the kid, I understand that being nervous in front of a crowd can cause you to ramble a bit, but when things like that happen, they're usually following the example of a blow-hard parent.

I hate long public prayers that are really sermons, and I hate long, pointless speeches. Are people clueless? Can't you see a bunch of teenagers in front of you, getting restless after twenty minutes of sermonizing to them? It doesn't mean they're rude. It means you're boring.

personally I think the church should install a gong. That way whenever someone gets longwinded you could run up the front and bang the gong and they would have to stop

in this kid's defense, he is so quirky, that I do not believe it was an ego trip at all.

Here is another classic from this same kid. he is tenting with the 14yo kid from Sierra Leone. A very small kid named Mohammed.

"6:30???!!! MOHAMMED, WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WE'RE LATE FOR THE MILE SWIM PRACTICE! OOOOHHHHH! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WILL NOT LET US DO IT? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. TURN AROUND. TURN AROUND. I'M PUTTING ON MY SWIM TRUNKS. TURN AROUND!......COME ON. WE HAVE TO GO NOW!"

Poor Mohammed. This scene repeated itself the next morning, when he got up at 6:45am (again late).

How about his parents? Do they tend to give sermony prayers? I bet they do - they home school him, after all

I don't know if his dad, the stake president, gives sermony prayers or not. or rather, very long prayers. I do know that his dad gives very long talks, however (most of which are entertaining and good, due to his profuse knowledge of anecdotes from church history, sprinkled with quotes from J. Golden).